THE NICHOLL'S SPINAL INJURY FOUNDATION

Helen is a founder patron of the Nicholls' Spinal Injury Foundation. She's involved in raising £5 million pounds to speed up research for a breakthrough cure for paralysis.

It all began when she met David Nicholls - head chef at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in London's Knightsbridge.

David's son Daniel was paralysed in a swimming accident on his gap year in Australia when he was just 19. He was swimming at Bondi Beach, dived into a wave, and hit his head on a moving sandbank. It's an all too common injury, yet there are no warning signs of the hidden dangers.

A Father's Promise
Dan is now 21 and tetraplegic. He spends his life in a wheelchair and has little movement from the neck down. But one thing that keeps him going, is the promise his father made - one day they will walk again together.

"This story is every parent's nightmare", says Helen. "Dan's life was halted in its prime, and if there's a cure out there, then we intend to find it. David is one of the most inspirational and determined men I have ever met. He will leave no stone unturned in his search for a cure, not just to help Dan, but to help the tens of thousands of others affected by paralysis."

Helen has already persuaded Sir Richard Branson and Eamonn Holmes to become patrons, and the charity is supported by David's celebrity chef friends including Gordon Ramsay, Heston Blumenthal and Gary Rhodes, as well as rugby's Martin Johnson and Will Greenwood.

Helen has helped organise the charity's first Independence Day Ball for July 4th this year, and is busy helping plan other fund raising events.

Funding Stem Cell Research
Some of the money raised will help support British Professor Geoffrey Raisman, who has made great progress using stem cells from the patients' nasal passage. He believes he's 5 - 10 years away from a cure for some forms of paralysis, and also glaucoma which causes blindness. And unusually, 95 per cent of everything raised will go to the charity as everyone as given their time for free to keep running costs at an absolute minimum.